And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
18. that great city &c.] Again as in Rev 17:9 the designation of Rome is unmistakeable. The words cannot be glossed, “Babylon is (now represented by) Rome,” but must mean “Babylon is Rome.”
which reigneth ] Lit., which hath kingdom, or kingly power.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the woman which thou sawest – Rev 17:3.
Is that great city – Represents that great city.
Which reigneth over the kings of the earth – Rome would of course be understood by this language in the time of John, and all the circumstances, as we have seen, combined to show that Rome, in some form of its dominion, is intended. Even the name could hardly have designated it more clearly, and all expositors agree in supposing that Rome, either as pagan or as Christian, is referred to. The chapter shows that its power is limited; and that, although for purposes which he saw to be wise, God allows it to have a wide influence over the nations of the earth, yet, in his own appointed time, the very powers that have sustained it will become its foes, and combine for its overthrow. Europe needs but little further provocation, and the fires of liberty, which have been so long pent up, will break forth, and that storm of indignation which has expelled the Jesuits from all the courts of Europe; which has abolished the Inquisition; which has more than once led hostile armies to the very gates of papal Rome, will again be aroused in a manner which cannot be allayed, and that mighty power, which has controlled so large a part of the nations of Europe for more than a thousand years of the worlds history, will come to an end.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.] It has already been shown that the woman sitting upon the seven-headed beast is a representation of the Latin Church; here we have the greatest assurance that it is so, because the woman is called a city, which is a much plainer emblem of a Church, as the word is used unequivocally in this sense in so many parts of Scripture that we cannot well mistake its meaning. See Rev 3:12; Rev 11:2; Rev 21:10; Rev 22:19; and also Ps 46:4; Ps 87:3; Heb 12:22, c. The woman therefore must be the Latin Church and as the apostle saw her sitting upon the beast, this must signify that , she hath A KINGDOM over the kings of the earth, i.e., over the kings of the Latin world, for that this is the meaning of earth has been shown before in numerous instances. That KINGDOM which the woman has over the kings of the Latin world, or secular Latin empire, or in other words THE KINGDOM of the Latin Church, is the numbered Latin kingdom or Romish hierarchy. See Clarke on Re 13:18. The woman is also called a GREAT city, to denote the very great extent of her jurisdiction; for she has comprehended within her walls the subjects of the mighty dominations of France, Spain, England, Scotland, The Empire, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, and Portugal. What an extensive city was this! Surely such as to justify the prophetic denomination, that GREAT city.
HAVING now gone through the whole of the angel’s interpretation of St. John’s vision of a whore sitting upon the seven-headed and ten-horned beast, it will be essentially necessary to examine a little more attentively the eighth verse of this chapter. Re 17:8 It has already been shown that the phrases, was, is not, shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and yet is, refer to the Latin kingdom which existed before the building of Rome, to the Roman empire in the time of St. John, and to the Latin empire which was in futurity in the apostolic age. But as the words was, is not, c., are spoken of the beast upon which the apostle saw the woman, or Latin Church, sit how can it be said of this beast that it had an existence before the date of the Apocalypse, when the woman whom it carried was not in being till long after this period? And what connection has the Latin empire of the middle ages with that which derived its name from Latinus, king of the Aborigines, and was subjugated by the ancient Romans; or even with that which existed in the time of the apostle? The answer is as follows: St. John saw the beast upon which the woman sat with all his seven heads and ten horns. Consequently, as the angel expressly says that five of these seven heads had already fallen in the time of the vision, it therefore necessarily follows that the apostle must have seen that part of the Latin empire represented by the seven-headed beast which had already been under the emblem of five heads. Therefore the woman sat upon the beast that WAS. But it is plain from the angel’s interpretation that the whole of the seven heads fell, before the beast upon which the woman sat arose; and yet the woman is represented as sitting upon the seven-headed beast to denote, as we have before observed, that it is the Latin kingdom in its last estate, or under one of its heads restored, which is the secular kingdom of antichrist. The beast is also said not to have any existence in the time of the vision; from which it is evident that the monarchy of the Latins, and not that of the Romans, is here intended; because the latter was in the time of the vision. Again, the beast which St. John saw had not ascended out of the bottomless pit in his time; consequently the whole seven heads and ten horns were in futurity, for all these heads and horns rose up out of the abyss at the same time with the beast. How is this apparent contradiction reconciled? In the most plain and satisfactory manner, by means of the angel’s double interpretation of the heads; for if the seven heads be taken in the sense of seven mountains, (head in the Scripture style being a symbol of precedency as well as supremacy,) then the beast with all its heads and horns was altogether in futurity in the apostle’s time, for the seven heads are the seven electorates of the German empire, and the ten horns the ten monarchies in the interest of the Latin Church. Finally, the beast is said to exist in the time of the vision; therefore the Roman empire, which governed the world, must be here alluded to; and consequently the phrase and yet is is a proof that, as the beast is the Latin kingdom, and this beast is said to have an existence in the time of the apostle, the empire of the Caesars, though generally known by the name of the Roman, is in a very proper sense the Latin kingdom, as the Latin was the language which prevailed in it. Hence the seven-headed and ten-horned beast is at once the representation of the ancient Latin power, of the Roman empire which succeeded it, and of the Latin empire which supports the Latin Church. Here is then the connection of the ancient Latin and Roman powers with that upon which the woman sits. She sits upon the beast that was and is not, because three of his heads represent the three forms of government which the ancient Latins had before they were subjugated by the Romans, viz., the regal power, the dictatorship, and the power of the praetors. She sits upon the beast which SHALL ASCEND out of the bottomless pit, because all his seven heads, taken in the sense of mountains were in futurity in the apostolic age. She sits upon the beast that yet is, because four of his heads represent four forms of government of the Roman or Latin empire now in existence, viz., the consulate, the triumvirate, the imperial power, and the patriciate. It is hence evident that the beast, in the largest acceptation of this term, is a symbol of the Latin power in general, from its commencement in Latinus to the end of time; his seven heads denoting seven kings or supreme forms of Latin government, during this period, king or kingdom, as we have already observed, being a general term in the prophetical writings for any kind of supreme governor or government, no matter by what particular name such may have been designated among men. Thus the Latin power from the time of Latinus to the death of Numitor was the beast under the dominion of his first head; from the death of Numitor to the destruction of Alba it was the beast under the dominion of his second head; from the destruction of Alba to the final subjugation of the Latins by the Romans the beast under the dominion of his third head. And as the four Roman forms of government which were subsequent to the final conquest of the Latins, were also Latin dominations, the Latin power under these forms of government was the beast under the dominion of his fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh heads. The beast of the bottomless pit, which followed the fall of all the heads of the sea beast or general Latin empire, is, according to the angel’s interpretation, , (,) an EIGHTH king, i.e., an eighth species of Latin power, or, in other words, a supreme form of Latin government essentially differing from all the foregoing; yet, as it is nominally the same with one of the preceding seven, it is not accounted an eighth head of the beast. The first beast of Re 13:1 is a description of the eighth or last condition of the GENERAL Latin empire, and is said to arise , out of the sea, because the heads are there taken in a double sense, sea being a general term to express the origin of every great empire which is raised up by the sword; but when (as in Re 17:11) one of the heads of the sea beast (viz., that secular power which is still in being, and has supported the Latin Church for more than a thousand years) is peculiarly styled The Beast, the Holy Ghost, speaking of this secular Latin empire exclusively, declares it to be , FROM the bottomless pit.
JOHN EDWARD CLARKE.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And the woman which thou sawest: see Rev 17:3.
Is that great city; that is, signifieth that great city, Babylon the great: see Rev 17:5.
Which reigneth over the kings of the earth, commanding and punishing them as she pleaseth. To what person or power that either now is, or ever was, upon the earth, is this applicable, but to the pope, who makes emperors hold his stirrup, sends his edicts to princes to execute, excommunicates them, and interdicts their subjects, and arms them against them if they refuse? So that if the pope sits upon seven hills, or Rome he built upon them; if the papacy hath allured the inhabitants of the earth to idolatry; if in her idolatries she be the image of the old pagan idolaters; if to her many princes have given their power and strength; if she reigneth over the kings of the earth; and these things be applicable to no other person or government; there is no more doubt, whether the pope be antichrist, and Rome mystical Babylon, which shall certainly be destroyed for her idolatries and shedding the blood of Gods holy ones, than there is of what we have Rev 1:1,2, that this book contains The Revelation of Jesus Christ, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; which he sent and signified by his angel unto his servant John; who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. reignethliterally, “hathkingship over the kings.” The harlot cannot be a mere cityliterally, but is called so in a spiritual sense (Re11:8). Also the beast cannot represent a spiritual power, but aworld power. In this verse the harlot is presented before us ripe forjudgment. The eighteenth chapter details that judgment.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the woman which thou sawest,…. Re 17:3 as there described,
is that great city, often mentioned in this book; great Babylon, the city of Rome, Re 11:8 which reigneth over the kings of the earth; which then reigned in John’s time over the kings of the earth; and this clearly points out the city of Rome, for there was no other city then, but that, which reigned over the kings of the earth; that was then the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which the whole world was subject; and therefore it is called all the world, Lu 2:1 and since, all the kings of the empire have been under the jurisdiction of Rome Papal. It was formerly called Urbs Regum, a “city of kings” z, either for the reason in the text, or because its inhabitants looked like kings.
z Justin. l. 18. c. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The woman ( ). She is now explained after the beast has been interpreted. Verse 9 made it plain enough, but this verse demonstrates that the woman is the city of Rome “which reigneth ( , the one having a kingdom) over the kings of the earth ( ).” Rome followed Babylon, and other cities may follow in their train.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Reigneth [ ] . Lit., hath a kingdom.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And the woman which thou sawest,” (kai he gune en eides) “and the woman whom you saw,” whom you observed, the fornicating scarlet harlot, mother of harlots, Rev 17:1-7.
2) “Is that great city,” (estin he polis he megale) “is (has her existence as) the (that) great city,” that centralized power as represented in the wicked city of Babylon and later that great city of Rome, center of heathen religious and civil jurisdiction.
3) “Which reigneth over the kings of the earth,” (he echousa basileian epi ton basileon tes ges) “the city having or holding a kingdom (one world) over the kings (royal rulers) of the earth,” the whole universe at the time of John’s vision and writing, Rev 17:9.
It appears that both the cities of ancient Rome and Babylon and the first and fourth Gentile, heathen, one world Empires, personify or are used to identify the predominant moral, ethical, and religious traits of the final reunited or restored Gentile world Empire under the antichrist, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism, during the tribulation the great era.
“BABYLON AND JERUSALEM” (Contrast of The Bride and the Harlot)
These prophecies present two broadly contrasted women, identified with two broadly contrasted cities, one reality being in each case doubly represented: as a woman and as a city. The harlot and Babylon are one: the bride and, the heavenly Jerusalem are one. The two women are contrasted in every particular that is mentioned about them: the one is pure as purity itself, “made ready” and fit for heaven’s unsullied holiness; the other foul as corruption could make her, fit only for the fires of destruction. The one belongs to the Lamb, who loves her as the bridegroom loves the bride; the other is associated with a wild beast, and with the kings of the earth, who ultimately hate and destroy her. The one is clothed with fine linen, and in another place is said to be clothed with the sun and crowned with a coronet of stars: that is, robed in Divine righteousness and resplendent with heavenly glory; the other is attired in scarlet and gold, in jewels and pearls, gorgeous indeed, but with earthly splendor only. The one is represented as a chaste virgin, espoused to Christ; the other is mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. The one is persecuted, pressed hard by the dragon, driven into the wilderness, and well-nigh overwhelmed; the other is drunken with martyr blood, and seated on a beast which has received its power from the persecuting dragon. The one sojourns in solitude in the wilderness; the other reigns “in the wilderness” over peoples, and nations, and kindreds, and tongues. The one goes with the Lamb to the marriage supper, amid the glad hallelujahs; the other is stripped, insulted, torn and destroyed by her guilty paramours.
– Exp. Bible
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(18) And the woman which thou sawest . . .Read, And the woman whom thou sawest is (not that, but) the great city, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth. With these words the angels explanation of the mystery of the woman (see Rev. 17:7) ends. The harlot is a city; the Babylon of the past lives again in Rome; the woman is Rome, the goddess of lands and peoples.
She who was named Eternal, and arrayed
Her warriors but to conquershe Who veiled
Earth with her haughty shadow and displayed
Until the oer canopied horizon failed
Her rushing wingsOh! she who was Almighty hailed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. The woman is that great city The harlot is Babylon, and Babylon is the beast, for all three are different aspects of the same one antichrist.
Yet the woman survives the city and the beast survives both, Rev 19:20.
We refer the Babylon-symbol to the politico-ecclesiastical organism of this ever-enlarging antichristic system a system which finds its immediate symbol in Rome as the seventh head, but its inherited totality symbolized in the eighth. Note Rev 17:11. It is secular and ecclesiastical CESARISM, which, essentially pagan and atheistic, usurps the place of the true King, and tyrannizes over the consciences and rights of mankind and subjects them to the despotism of antichrist.
The harlot symbol is that unity of corrupt doctrine with corrupt character and conduct once eminently belonging to the ancient Baal system, (see note on Rev 2:20,) by which whoredom, united with dogma, became a common name for a false and corrupt religionism. This harlotry is a compound of false theology with a debauchery and depravation of mind and manners.
The organic combination falls first, has fallen, and is falling. Men are gaining freedom of conscience; and religious despotism, with its religious wars and inquisitions, is going down by force of right asserting itself. But the purification of thought and life, the banishment of false theology and of all practical depravities and vices, social and individual, is a later reformation. Its fullest earthly completion will not be attained till Satan himself is bound and banished, and the millennial reign is inaugurated.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the woman whom you saw is the great city which controls (literally ‘has a kingdom over’) over the kings of the earth.’
Here is the explanation of the mystery of the woman. As we have seen the woman is an idea, a symbol, she is Babylon the Great, and as such she is also Rome, for Rome was the manifestation of Babylon the Great at that time. But providentially the ‘great city’ is not named except in symbol. It represents gatherings of peoples in great cities away from God with a view to control and enforcement of their will, as has happened right from the beginning starting with Cain, Nimrod and Babel. It is a city setting itself up above God and indulging itself without regard to Him, in a pool of luxury and degradation. And it controls the kings of the earth.
( It is, of course, possible that the activities described in detail in chapter 13 of the beast from the sea will also be fulfilled more fully in the scarlet beast, for they are things which typify the activity of the Devil in many periods, but where they do so it is not as direct fulfilment of chapter 13. That was mainly spoken of the Rome of that time. We must rightly divide the word of truth).
It is important that we correctly understand these final events. The destruction of Babylon the Great is given central place as the final doom. It is she who has shed the blood of God’s people through the ages (Rev 18:24). Her destruction is their vindication. But God is not to be seen as defeating Babylon the Great. Babylon the Great is a tool and does not warrant His direct attention. His object is Satan, the one who is finally responsible for all man’s rebellion against God, and so Babylon the Great must be removed out of the way in preparation for this final face to face encounter. It is possible that we are to see in the destruction Satan’s final attempt to direct worship fully at himself. But as ever he is deceived. He merely fulfils the final purpose of God. The whole is symbolic. It is the essence that matters.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
REFLECTIONS
Blessed and condescending Teacher of John! Thy Church desire to praise thee, O Lord Jesus, for causing thy servant the Apostle to be shown, and the Church through him also concerning this great spiritual whore, which sitteth upon many waters, committeth fornication with the kings of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and hath been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Through thy grace, Lord, instructing thy people, we cannot mistake her character. Her purple and scarlet robes, her gold and proud trappings, the blasphemy of her pretended power, and the names she assumes, her whore’s forehead and the mystery she hath put there, all mark her out, as the object of horror and detestation, to thy people. And while we behold her drunken with the blood of thy saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, we cannot but wonder, with great admiration! Oh! the awful state, to which the nature of man is brought down! Oh! the astonishing extent of the long suffering of Almighty God.
Dearest Lord Jesus! the souls of thy people are relieved in the pleasing prospect, that shortly thou wilt come and root out of thy kingdom, all things that offend. She, which hath intoxicated herself with the blood of thy saints, shall have her flesh eaten by those who professed to love her. She, who hated the meek and humble followers of the Lamb, shall herself be despised; yea, they shall hate the whore, and make her desolate and naked, shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Oh! what a relief to my soul is it, to turn from the view of images so horrible, and to contemplate Jesus under his own rightful character, Lord of lords, and King of kings! May every knee bow before thee! And oh! what praises shall I offer to my God, that Jesus hath a seed that serve him, a generation that call him blessed; who are called, and chosen, and faithful! Lord! do thou in those awful times, make them and keep them faithful. It is thy sweet province, and sure I am, it is my Lord’s delight, to keep them from falling, and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Ver. 18. Is that great city ] Rome, that radix omnium malorum, the base of all evil. This is confessed by Bellarmine, Ribera, Alcasar, and other Jesuits. The Rhemists are so straited, that they know not which way to turn them, or how to deny so clear a truth, which yet they are not willing to acknowledge. The wit of heretics will better serve them to devise a thousand shifts to elude the truth, than their pride will suffer them once to yield and acknowledge it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 17:18 . The dramatic climax of the oracle: the great harlot is Rome, domina Roma, the pride and queen of the world! Cf. Spenser’s Ruines of Rome , 360 f. (“Rome was th’ whole world, and al the world was Rome”). For the probable position of Rev 19:9-10Rev 19:9-10Rev 19:9-10 at this point in the original form of the Apocalypse, see below ( ad loc. ).
After a prelude on the doom of this second and western Babylon (Rev 18:1-3 ) two sublime songs follow: one of triumph in heaven (Rev 17:4-8 ) one of wailing on earth (9 f.). Both are modelled in semi-strophic style upon the earlier taunt-songs ( cf. Introd. 4) over Tyre and Babylon ( cf. also Apoc. Bar. lxxxii. 3 9). But the severe invective against Rome reveals the shuddering impression which this marvel and mistress of the world made upon the conscience of her provincial subjects, Jewish or Christian. They were half fascinated, even as they felt repelled, by the sight of her grandeur. This magnificent doom song (9 f.) like that of Apoc. Bar. 12. (cf. Rev 17:13 ), however, celebrates her downfall, partly on grounds which might be justified from contemporary pagan authors ( cf. Renan’s Aptres , ch. xvii.). ver. 24 (note the sudden change from to ) and 20 (in whole or part) are Christian editorial insertions, ( a ) either by some scribe or editor after the Apocalypse was completed, or ( b ) by John himself in an earlier source (Jewish or from his own hand). The presence of a special source is suggested by e.g. , the unexampled use of ( cf. on Rev 17:16 , and Oxyrh. Fragment of Uncan. Gospel , 31), the large number of ( . 3, 6, , cf. 1Ti 5:17 , . 7 and 9, , ., , and in 12, ., , ., , and , [in this sense] in 13, (14), [in this sense in Apoc.] in 17, . 19, . 21, ., , [only in Rev 14:2 ] 22, and , 14) and rare terms, for which the special character of the contents can hardly account. Differences of outlook also emerge; e.g. , Rev 18:9 f. is out of line with Rev 17:17 and Rev 16:13 f., Rev 18:1-3 (Rome long desolate) hardly tallies with Rev 18:9 f. (ruins still smouldering, cf. Rev 19:3 ), and the kings of Rev 18:9-10 lament, whereas in Rev 17:16 they attack, Rome. These inconsistencies (Schn, Schmiedel) might in part be set down to the free poetic movement of the writer’s imagination, working in dramatic style and oblivious of matter-of-fact incongruities like the sauve qui peut of 4; just as the lack of any allusion to the Imperial cultus, the Lamb, or the martyrs (exc. 20 and 24) does not necessarily denote a Jewish origin. But the cumulative effect of these features points to 20 and 24 as insertions by John in a Jewish ( cf. e.g. , the special emphasis on the trader’s point of view, 11 17) Vespasianic source which originally formed a pendant to that underlying 17 (so variously in detail but agreeing on a source, probably Jewish Sabatier, Rauch, Spitta, Weyland, Bousset, J. Weiss, Schmidt, Baljon, Pfleid., Wellhausen, von Soden, de Faye, Calmes). The original breathed the indignant spirit of a Jewish apocalyptist against the proud empire which had won a temporary triumph over the city and people of God. John applies it to the Rome which was also responsible for the persecutions. The tone of it has been severely censured, as if it breathed a malignant orgy of revenge. “It does not matter whether Jewish or Christian materials are the ultimate source. He who takes delight in such fancies is no whit better than he who first invented them” (Wernle, p. 370). So far as this is true, it applies to Rev 19:17-21 (or 14 20) rather than to 18. But the criticism must be qualified; see notes on Rev 18:7 ; Rev 18:20 . There is smoke in the flame, but a profound sense of moral indignation and retribution overpowers the mere vindictiveness of an unpatriotic fanatic who exults to see his oppressor humiliated.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
that = the.
reigneth. Literally having a kingdom, or sovereignty.
kings . . . earth. Those who are so called in Rev 16:14. See also Rev 17:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the woman: Rev 16:19, Rev 18:2, Dan 2:40, Dan 2:41, Dan 7:23, Luk 2:1
which reigneth: The city which, at the time of the vision, “reigned over the kings of the earth,” was undoubtedly Rome; and from its foundation, it has, in different ways, accomplished this object to the present time. Rev 12:4
Reciprocal: Isa 47:5 – for Isa 51:23 – I will Mar 14:22 – this Act 28:16 – Rome Col 2:22 – after 2Ti 3:1 – perilous Rev 14:8 – Babylon Rev 17:3 – a woman Rev 17:9 – The seven Rev 18:8 – and she
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 17:18. Since the Reformation has not occurred yet, at the point of the great drama applying to this verse, the woman and great city refers to Babylon as the union of church and state.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 18.
With verse eighteen the chapter closes with a significant declaration: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. It is this passage that has been the basis of the interpretation and theory that Rome was the city that reigned over the kings of the earth, and was therefore the harlot city. But the conclusion does not follow. In Rev 11:8 Jerusalem is called the great city under the symbols of Sodom and Egypt, hence the term “great city” has been a mystic designation for Jerusalem. In the history of Josephus, Volume 7 of Wars, Section 8, 7, the historical term “that great city” was applied to Jerusalem. This was both the historical and symbolic designation for Jerusalem.
There are no such terms and titles employed to designate Rome. The appellation for Jerusalem comports further with the reference to the city as Babylon, the Great in Rev 11:8, symbolically called Sodom and Egypt, but identified as being Jerusalem by the statement where also our Lord was crucified.
The last statement of verse eighteen “which reigneth over the kings of the earth” did not refer to the empire of the Caesars, nor the city of the emperors. The word reign here denoted a dominion. The earth, as defined at the beginning of the visions and later repeated, referred to the land of Judea, inclusive of Palestine. The city of Jerusalem was the royal city where the kings of Judah reigned. The phrase the kings of the earth was used in the sense of Act 4:26-27 :
“The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast annointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together.”
These “kings of the earth” were of Judah, and Jerusalem was the capital city of the land, standing in the same relation to these “kings of the earth” as Rome sustained to the emperors.
The second psalm represents Jerusalem as ruling with a rod of iron over “the kings of the earth” who had set themselves against the Lord’s annointed One. In the Wars, Book 3, Section 3, 5, Josephus adds that “the royal city Jerusalem was supreme, and presided over all neighboring country as the head does over the body.”
There is every contextual reason to apply the language of verse eighteen, “that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth,” to Jerusalem in relation to the kings of Judah, as figuratively set forth in the second psalm, and quoted in fulfillment in the gospel of Matthew.
Beside these scriptural applications, it must be true in ordinary logic and common consistency that the beast being the Roman empire, the harlot city which the beast hated could not have been the city of Rome.
The entire vision is centered on the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, the demolition of the Jewish temple and the end of theocratic Judaism and of the Jewish state; and the devastation of the land of Judea, the homeland of the Jews. The persecution of the church was a consequence of such catastrophe, being considered by the Romans as a sect of the Jews. But the Roman empire and Rome, the city, were only collateral to the visions of Revelation as the instrument of the power of destruction and of persecution.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 17:18. And the woman which thou sawest is the great city which hath a kingdom over the kings of the earth. That Rome may be here present to the mind of St. John it would be difficult to deny. We have seen that Rome may have been thought of in Rev 17:9. But that we are to confine ourselves to Rome, either Papal or pagan or both, or that we are even to think primarily of them, as is done by different classes of Historical interpreters, can hardly be admitted. Rome may be one of the illustrations or exemplifications of what is alluded to, but the idea of the Seer is certainly wider than that of any single city or power of the world. We have yet to inquire what the city, the Babylon, so referred to, is. In the meantime it must be enough to say that to think of any literal city whatever is to disturb the harmony which ought to mark the interpretation of the whole passage. The city must be some faithless spiritual power which, under the last manifestation of the beast, enters into a league with the world, ministers to it, and lends to its material forces an influence for evil which they would not otherwise possess.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
This is so clear a description of Rome, that the church of Rome herself acknowledges it: for if that be the city built upon seven hills, the city that allures the inhabitants of the earth to idolatry; if her idolatries be a lively image of the old Pagan idolatries; if to her many kings have given their power and strength; and if she reigneth over the kings of the earth; their remains no doubt but that this great city is Rome:–that Rome is mystical Babylon, which has shed the blood of saints and martyrs without number, and must be destroyed for so doing; no pomp nor grandeur can exempt or shall save her from the revenging hand of God, and his just indignation.
Lord! hasten that desirable time.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The harlot is clearly identified as “that great city,” which would seem to be none other than Rome the capital of the Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that {35} great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
(35) That is, Rome that great city, or only city (as Justinian calls it) the king and head of which was then the emperor, but now the pope, since the condition of the beast was changed.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The woman represents "the great city." In the context this undoubtedly refers to Babylon. It is the only city referred to specifically in this chapter (Rev 17:5; cf. Rev 16:18; Rev 14:8). As a system of apostate religion, which Babylon originated (Genesis 10-11) and symbolizes, it reigned over the leaders and kingdoms of the world. Though religion has always guided the decisions of political rulers, this is very clear during the Middle Ages in Europe. Then the popes wielded great influence over the political leaders of the Holy Roman Empire. The religious influence of Jezebel over King Ahab is a striking parallel in biblical history.
The focus of the revelation in this chapter is the age-old apostate religious system and its relation to government during the seven-year Tribulation period. During the first half of the Tribulation it will be an ecumenical, worldwide body that will stand above government and will be aggressively hostile to true believers in God. At the end of the Great Tribulation, Antichrist will terminate it and demand universal worship of himself.
"In view of the fact that there does not seem to be any religious opposition to the woman, and her sway seems to be complete except for individual saints whom she persecutes, the evidence seems to support the fact that the woman represents an ecumenical or worldwide church embracing all of Christianity religiously, and therefore including not only the Roman Catholic Church but Protestant and Greek Orthodox as well. . . .
"The final form of world religion will not even be Christian in name, and will actually be an atheistic, humanistic, satanic system which denies everything related to the true God, and is the persecutor of all who fail to worship the political ruler." [Note: Walvoord, "Revival of . . .," pp. 326-27.]